4.Its, One of the rare instances of the word in S. Here it will be noted that it is emphatic. Gr. 228.15.That prays for peace. A petition for peace was included in the form of grace then in common use. Hanmer changes before to “after;” and the Camb. editors remark: “Hanmer’s reading is recommended by the fact that in the old forms of grace used in many colleges, and, as we are informed, at the Inns of Court, the prayer for peace comes always after, and never before, meat. But as the mistake may easily have been made by S., or else deliberately put into the mouth of the 1st Gentleman, we have not altered the text.”21.What, in metre? K. takes this to refer to the ancient metrical graces arranged to be said or sung. Schmidt thinks it may mean “in a play, on the stage.” Proportion in the reply may be = “measure,” as Warb. explains it, or simply = form, arrangement.24.Grace is grace, etc. “Grace is as immutably grace as his merry antagonist is a wicked villain. Difference in religion cannot make a grace not to be grace, a prayer not to be holy; as nothing can make a villain not to be a villain” (Johnson).27.There went but a pair of shears between us. “We are both of the same piece” (Johnson). Malone quotes Marston, Malcontent, 1604: “There goes but a pair of shears betwixt an emperor and the son of a bagpiper; only the dyeing, dressing, pressing, and glossing makes the difference.”32.Had as lief. Good English then as now. See A. Y. L. p. 139.33.Piled. “A quibble between piled = peeled, stripped of hair, bald (from the French disease), and piled as applied to velvet, three-piled velvet meaning the finest and costliest kind” (D.).37.Forget to drink after thee. That is, lest I catch the disease in that way.39.Done myself wrong. “Put myself in the wrong” (J. 1 f.).44.I have purchased, etc. I have acquired or got, etc. Cf. A. Y. L. p. 177. The folio continues this speech to Lucio, but the context shows that it belongs to the ist gentleman, to whom Pope transferred it.48.Dolours. For the play on dollars, cf. Temp. ii. i. 17 and Lear, ii. 4.54.50.A French crown. A common expression for a bald head, being a kindred joke to that in 33 above. Cf. M. N. D. i. 2. 99: “Some of your French crowns have no hair at all,” etc.54.Thy bones are hollow. Steevens quotes T. of A. iv. 3. 152:

“Consumptions sow In hollow bones of man.”

78.The sweat. The plague, which was popularly known as “the sweating sickness.” See p. 10 above.88.Houses in the suburbs. Houses of ill – fame were chiefly in the suburbs.104.Thomas. A name commonly applied to tapsters, probably for the sake of the alliteration.108.Enter Provost, etc. The folio begins a new scene, “Scaena Tertia,” here, and is followed by some modern eds.; but there is evidently no change of scene. The Coll. MS. omits the name of Juliet here; but the preceding line indicates that she is on the stage. Possibly, however, as H. suggests, “Pompey may be supposed to see her just as the others are entering and she is parting from them.” It is evident from 137 below that she is not within hearing, nor near the speaker. The Camb. editors suppose that she was “following at a distance behind, in her anxiety for the fate of her lover.” At the end of the play she appears again without saying anything.114.The words of heaven, etc. Some editors adopt the conjecture of Roberts, “The sword of heaven;” but we accept Henley’s explanation of the original text: “Authority, being absolute in Angelo, is finely styled by Claudio the demi-god. To this uncontrollable power the poet applies a passage from St, Paul to the Romans, ix. 15, 18, which he properly styles the words of heaven: ‘for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,’ etc.; and again: ‘Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy,’ etc.”119.Scope. Liberty, license; as in i. 3. 35 below.121.Ravin down. Ravenously devour. Cf. Macb. ii. 4. 28:

“Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up Thine own life’s means!”

and Cymb. i. 6. 49: “ravining first the lamb.” Note also the adjective in A. W. iii. 2. 120: “the ravin lion.”Their proper bane. = their own poison or destruction. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 60: “Their proper selves,” etc.122.A thirsty evil. In Sir William Davenant’s Law against Lovers, which is founded on this play and Much Ado, this is changed to “An evil thirst.”125.Morality. The folios misprint “mortality;” corrected by Rowe (after Davenant).136.Contract. Accented by S. on the first or second syllable, as suits the measure. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 84 : “A contract of true love to celebrate,” etc.137.Possession. H. makes this word a quadrisyllable (see on i. i. 47 above), and the line an Alexandrine; but it is clearly better to consider it an ordinary line of five feet, with extra syllables which are easily slurred in pronunciation. Cf. the preceding line and 139 just below.139.Denunciation. Proclamation, declaration; the only instance of the word in S. The Coll. MS. changes it to “pronunciation,” but, as W. remarks, this only shows the incompetence and the want of authority of the corrector, and, perhaps, the lateness of his labours. Minsheu, 1617, has “To denounce or declare,” and Cooper, 1578, “Denuntiare, — to shew or tell to another, to give knowledge, to signifie, to denounce,” etc.141.Propagation. The reading of the later folios; the 1st has “propogation- gation.” Malone conjectures “prorogation,” and Jackson “procuration.” W. reads “preservation.” A writer in the Edin, Mag., Nov. 1786, thinks propagation may be from the Italian pagare, to pay, and = payment; but this is improbable. It is more likely = continuing, keeping up. The dowry would appear to have been in some way dependent on her friends’ approval of her chosen husband, and the couple wanted to keep up their hold upon it until they had managed to gain the favour of those in charge of it. For the use ofpropagate, cf. Chapman, Odyssey, xvi. (quoted by Steevens):

“to try if we, Alone, may propagate to victory Our bold encounters;”

and again, Iliad, iv.:

“I doubt not but this night Even to the fleete to propagate the Greeks’ unturned flight.”

J. H. thinks for propagation means “that she might continue to receive the interest.” He assumes that Julietta was to receive the interest while unmarried, and the principal when married to a man approved by her friends.149.The fault and glimpse. “The faulty glimpse: a fault arising from the mind being dazzled by a novel authority of which the new governor has yet had only a glimpse, has yet taken only a hasty survey” (Malone). Johnson conjectured “flash” for fault, or that we should read “fault or glimpse.”156.Stagger. Waver, am perplexed.157.Awakes me. For the me, see Gr. 220.158.Like unscour’d armour. Steevens quotes T.and C. iii. 3. 152;

“Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail, In monumental mockery.”

159.Nineteen zodiacs. Nineteen circuits of the sun, or years. Whalley would change nineteen to “fourteen,” on account of i. 3. 21; just as there Theo. reads “nineteen” for fourteen. Clarke remarks: “It is most characteristic that a young fellow like Claudio should carelessly mention somewhere about the period in question, while the staid duke cites it exactly.” It may, however, be one of the poet’s little slips in numbers. Cf. C. of E.’p. 148 (note on Thirty-three years), or T. of S. p. 128 (on This seven).160.Worn. Put in use; suggested by the simile of the armour.163.Tickle. Ticklish, precarious. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. i. i. 216: “on a tickle point.”169.Receive her approbation. Enter upon her probation (cf. v. i. 72 below), or novitiate. Malone quotes The Merry Devil of Edmonton, 1608:

“Madam, for a twelvemonth’s approbation We mean to make the trial of our child.”

171.In my voice. In my name; as in A. Y. L. ii. 4. 87 : “And in my voice most welcome shall you be.”174.Prone. Variously explained by the editors: “prompt, ready” (Nares and H.); “significant, expressive” (Malone); “humble” (Steevens and W.); “deferential, gently submissive and supplicatory” (Clarke); “affectionate” (J. H.), etc. We are inclined to agree with Steevens and Clarke. Davenant changes the word to “sweet;” which, as Steevens remarks, shows, like other of his alterations, “that what appear difficulties to us were difficulties to him, who, living nearer the time of S., might be supposed to have understood his language more intimately.”175.Move. The folio reading; changed by Rowe to “moves.” Capell changes beside to “besides.”179.Grievous imposition. “Under grievous penalties imposed” (Johnson).180.Who. Often = which. Gr. 264. Hanmer and W. read “which.”181.Tick-tack. A sort of backgammon (Fr. tric-trac).

How to cite the explanatory notes:Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. Ed. William J. Rolfe. New York: Harper & Brothers., 1899.